Platform: Mac, Windows

Drawn: Dark Flight is the direct sequel to last year's hidden object/adventure hybrid Drawn: The Painted Tower, and it spins another intricate tale of dark mystery and intrigue. It pulls you in with a delicious atmosphere crafted by sublime visuals and strong storytelling, and its adventure-centric gameplay builds upon that by getting you to think about the environment, the items you find, and the puzzles in front of you. It's easily one of the best casual adventure games ever released.

If you haven't played the original Drawn, some of the storytelling nuances will be lost on you. You can still dive right in, of course, as the sequel gives you a quick rundown before you begin, but the experience is so much richer having the first game under your belt. Iris, a young girl who can make her drawings come to life, escaped the evil king in the original game. Now, the Painted Tower has crumbled with you beneath it, and Iris has hidden herself inside a book. Your task is to work through the rubble and emerge in the library, then light the town's beacons to ward off the darkness so Iris can take her place as Queen.

Gameplay in Drawn: Dark Flight is very organic, leaving most obvious genre formulas hidden from view. Each small area contains a number of items you can pick up and store in your inventory. Use the items to gain access to other parts of the scenes, opening doors and moving objects out of the way so you can progress. Paintings serve as another layer of scenery, allowing you to complete pictures and dive inside to solve more puzzles for even more inventory items. Even when you complete an area, you'll still have leftover inventory items to use later on. Backtracking is an important part of the game, as is experimenting and paying close attention to plot details and events in each scene.

Short puzzles that serve as mini-games also appear in Drawn 2, but they're unlike anything you would expect from an adventure game. Instead of jigsaw puzzles or number riddles, you'll bang on metal bars in the right sequence, play with pop-up books, and assemble stone drawings by moving pillars and completing the picture. Drawn never breaks continuity and weaves these diversions right into the game, so you never leave the environment and your immersion stays complete.

Analysis: Drawn: Dark Flight is absolutely mesmerizing. Very few games have the ability to pull you in so thoroughly. Right from the start you'll be riveted to your screen, soaking in all the details about Iris and her plight, wishing you could hop in the game and run around the rich world. The gameplay feels like an extension of the story, and these elements get along so well, you'll begin to wonder how you could ever play a second-rate adventure game again.

Visually, Drawn sticks to its roots with a largely soft palette of cool colors and dark settings. This changes later, of course, and the brightly-colored places show off just as much artistic flair as you would expect. Each area is like a painting and is a treat to look at. When you catch the multiple paper cutout scenes, you'll be even more impressed! The voice acting is nothing to turn your nose at, either, which is a great change of pace for a casual game.

Drawn: Dark Flight requires you to actually pay attention to the story and details in the environment to progress. In other words, you can't play this game while working on a sudoku puzzle on your phone. If you aren't devoting your full attention to the experience, you'll miss a lot of what the game has to offer, and you'll find yourself stuck every few minutes. Even if the next step isn't obvious, Drawn: Dark Flight offers a way out with unlimited advice and hint systems to nudge you on your way. Use them when you're in a bind, but don't spoil the game by overusing them! Mini-games can also be skipped after a short time, though usually you'll be far too engrossed to leave them behind.

There is absolutely nothing to find fault with in this game. It's perfectly sculpted from beginning to end, crafting a story that's intriguing, gameplay that never ceases to be interesting, and an overall experience that will leave you satisfied but ready for more. Easily one of the best casual adventure games ever released.

A Collector's Edition is also available. It contains a new quest with alternate ending, achievements to earn throughout the game, strategy guide, wallpapers, soundtrack, and more. Remember that Big Fish Game Club Members pay only $13.99 for Collector's Editions (or 2 club credits), and collector's editions count 3 card punches of 6 total needed for a free game.

Your main tasks in the game are simple, light the 3 beacon towers and find Iris.

You will be responsible for lighting 2 of the beacons, Iris will light the 3rd.

Each task has many sub-tasks to perform to get to the main objective.

Watch your objective board to see what the main task is for any given scene. Don't forget to click on Franklin for advice.

You need to complete main tasks or objectives to move further into the world of Drawn.

Drawings

In the world of Drawn, drawings have real power.

Sketches of items can be used as the real thing. A sketch of a frog can be a frog, a sketch of a rope can be a rope, etc. Always pick up sketches as you find them.

Large paintings and posters can be walked into, taking you to different worlds. Some paintings and posters have been damaged, so you might need to find their missing pieces before you can go in.

A painting or drawing that is sparkling means that you can enter the scene.

Occasionally you will come across a scene where there is a dotted outline, not a finished sketch. These areas need your interaction to be activated.

When you find a dotted outline, use whatever drawing implement you might have in your inventory (brush, charcoal, crayon, etc.). Pick up the item from your inventory, then click and drag around the outline.

Pop Up Books

During the game you will encounter several pop-up books.

These books are interactive, and can contain several puzzles within them.

You can interact with the books by pulling on the tabs (click and drag with your mouse), by drawing in them, by adding other paper elements, and by manipulating parts of the paper scenery.

Now place the dragon wedge, queen wedge, and castle wedge in the circle on the right wall.

You should now have a second stone disk. Move forward to the gates and click on the pedestal.

Pedestal Mini-Game

Each column of rock is blank until you put a stone disk into the circle underneath it. Then, it will show a portion of a carving.

Placing the stone disks will cause the columns to shift. You can also shift the columns by clicking on them.

Each time one column moves it affects another.

First, place the two stone disks in the two circles to the right to show the columns. Experiment with moving the columns until you can see what the picture is supposed to look like, and what position the columns should be in.

The blue buttons on the inside of the circle will turn two pieces at a time. These buttons are spaced apart with empty holes. There is one button, however, at the top, between two other buttons. This button is the key, as it will only move one piece, rotating it.

Around the outer rim of the puzzle is the picture that you are trying to make. Examine the screenshot below, you will see that the piece in the lower left is already in the proper place.

Start with this distinctive piece, and get it into place first. If, when you rotate it into place it is not in the correct orientation, move it over to the single button control and rotate it once or twice, then move it back.

Once the first piece is in place, you can start working your way around one side and the other, towards the rotating button.

Now back away from the book on the left and click on the one on the right.

Wait for the lightning to strike and look closely: symbols will appear in the 4 circles on the right side of the book that have Roman Numerals. You might also notice that the Roman Numerals are not in the same position as the ones in the left book.

There are two additional circles on the right. They don't have Roman Numerals, but have stars near them.

At the bottom of the book you will see a sequence of numbers: 3, 1, 2, 4.

You can pick up the symbols from the left of the book and place them in the circles on the right side.

First, fill in the two circles marked by stars, using the ghostly symbols you saw in the left book. That means on the left the triangle with a bar across the top, and on the right the triangle with a dot on the top.

Then, place the symbols in the outer circles according to what you see when the lightning hits. That means on the top left goes the "upside down P", on the top right goes the "shovel pointing southwest", on the bottom left goes the "double diamond pointing down" and in the bottom right goes the "double diamond pointing southeast".

Now you're going to start alternating the levers. Starting with the top lever, click once, then click the bottom lever once. Keep alternating the top and bottom levers until the candles have moved to the outer top and bottom rows.

The circle on the right is flashing, so we need to solve that one first. Use the purple tab at the top of the backdrop and drag it left or right until raindrops appear in the circle with the water symbol.

Now pull the tab on the left bookcase (next to the backdrop) to the right, pull the tab on the right bookcase (next to the backdrop) up, and pull the newly appeared tab upwards to pull up the statue. Once the statue is up you will have to wiggle it to the right a bit to get it all the way up.

Back out of the painting and pull up the fall book (top left book). Place the mushrooms and the leaves in the book and you will get part of an acorn drawing. When you are finished the book will go into your inventory.

There are numerous small gates in the dividers. Click on a gate to lift it and click on a gate again to put it down. Some gates automatically shut (the ones by the color circles and the ones by the ears). The others don't, so watch and be careful.

It is vitally important to remember to close the gates once you've used them, otherwise you will get some strange color mistakes.

The ear holes can act as drains, removing unwanted colors from the face.

Start with the eyes and the eyebrows. You won't need to use these areas as major thoroughfares.

Now move the green from the neck into the areas outside both ears. Once you do this, you can no longer use the gates at the tops of the ears to drain. From now on, you can only use the gates between the ears and the cheeks to drain color.

Open a gate between one of the cheeks and the neck to make the neck purple. This will also make the cheek purple. Drain the cheek through the ear, then move more red into the cheek. The face should be all red and the neck purple.

Now add some yellow from the circle in the crown and move it through the face, turning the face orange, except for the lips. Avoid the eyes, eyebrows, neck, and outer areas. Do not add yellow from any other area or your risk the original area turning orange. And don't forget the tip of the nose.

Move the blue into the temple area, the upper cheeks, across the nose, to the left upper cheeks and the left temple area. Once the area is blue move the red dye backwards through the same sequence, turning the area purple. Avoid the eyes and the nose tip.

Cool, a graveyard. There's a lot to do here, so let's take it in stages.

First, pick up everything that can be picked up. There's a shovel on the ground, a hex stone on a headstone, another hex stone on the cobblestones, and a heavy stone on the tomb on the left. When you remove the heavy stone you will find another hex stone.

There's a sack sitting in the graveyard, use the knife to cut it open. This will get you another hex stone.

There's a fresh mound of dirt by a headstone. Use the shovel to dig up the grave (takes 3 clicks). Then use the crowbar to pry open the coffin. This will get you a piece of paper and a little green glowing worm.

Notice the tree in the distance? The one that is lit up from inside? Click on it and the light will fly over to the nearby tree, lighting it up from the inside.

Once the nearby tree lights up you will notice the hex stone in its mouth. Take it.

If you click underneath the branch of the tree that looks like an upraised arm, you wonder if it might be ticklish.

On a gravestone to the right are another bunch of 6 arrows, this time in purple. Might be good to memorize the combination.

The game sounds awesome but has one major glitch with the demo. i downloaded everything, pressed play and all i got a white block where i assume text should have been. Couldn't play it all i could figure out how to do was play a trailer of the game. Pretty much a waste of half an hour to download the demo.

[I am sure that if you contact Big Fish Customer Support, they will help you resolve the issue quickly. -Jay]

If you have the collector's edition, you may just find a use for it after you're done with the main storyline

All in all, another beautiful game. The only thing that frustrated me was that it seemed to let me put myself in unsolvable positions, at which point I'd hit the "Skip Puzzle" button. I HATE having to do that...

This game is truly the best! Already liked drawn 1, but what annoyed me with that one is that you sometimes had to go way too much steps back to complete a puzzle. In Drawn 2, they solved this beautifully.

Drawn beats mystery case files for me (different genre, but they also have great graphics). Can't wait for the next one!

please someone help. I'm going around in circles trying to get back to the spot where the poster of the frog is at the beginning of the town. I'm in the children's library and cant seem to get back there. I was at the frog puzzle and I'm trying to get other frogs. I really love this game. I think its the best Ive played. I don't get the words ether but don't seem to need them to play.

Your main tasks in the game are simple, light the 3 beacon towers and find Iris.

You will be responsible for lighting 2 of the beacons, Iris will light the 3rd.

Each task has many sub-tasks to perform to get to the main objective.

Watch your objective board to see what the main task is for any given scene. Don't forget to click on Franklin for advice.

You need to complete main tasks or objectives to move further into the world of Drawn.

Drawings

In the world of Drawn, drawings have real power.

Sketches of items can be used as the real thing. A sketch of a frog can be a frog, a sketch of a rope can be a rope, etc. Always pick up sketches as you find them.

Large paintings and posters can be walked into, taking you to different worlds. Some paintings and posters have been damaged, so you might need to find their missing pieces before you can go in.

A painting or drawing that is sparkling means that you can enter the scene.

Occasionally you will come across a scene where there is a dotted outline, not a finished sketch. These areas need your interaction to be activated.

When you find a dotted outline, use whatever drawing implement you might have in your inventory (brush, charcoal, crayon, etc.). Pick up the item from your inventory, then click and drag around the outline.

Pop Up Books

During the game you will encounter several pop-up books.

These books are interactive, and can contain several puzzles within them.

You can interact with the books by pulling on the tabs (click and drag with your mouse), by drawing in them, by adding other paper elements, and by manipulating parts of the paper scenery.

Now place the dragon wedge, queen wedge, and castle wedge in the circle on the right wall.

You should now have a second stone disk. Move forward to the gates and click on the pedestal.

Pedestal Mini-Game

Each column of rock is blank until you put a stone disk into the circle underneath it. Then, it will show a portion of a carving.

Placing the stone disks will cause the columns to shift. You can also shift the columns by clicking on them.

Each time one column moves it affects another.

First, place the two stone disks in the two circles to the right to show the columns. Experiment with moving the columns until you can see what the picture is supposed to look like, and what position the columns should be in.

I've played a lot of adventure games, and no one has done it better than Drawn. This is simply the most imaginative and beautiful game. I'm already replaying it just so I can stare at the artwork some more.

And yes, it is definitely worth paying more for the collector's edition. I was happy with the bonus content, but mainly, I just didn't want to wait for this!

The blue buttons on the inside of the circle will turn two pieces at a time. These buttons are spaced apart with empty holes. There is one button, however, at the top, between two other buttons. This button is the key, as it will only move one piece, rotating it.

Around the outer rim of the puzzle is the picture that you are trying to make. Examine the screenshot below, you will see that the piece in the lower left is already in the proper place.

Start with this distinctive piece, and get it into place first. If, when you rotate it into place it is not in the correct orientation, move it over to the single button control and rotate it once or twice, then move it back.

Once the first piece is in place, you can start working your way around one side and the other, towards the rotating button.

Now back away from the book on the left and click on the one on the right.

Wait for the lightning to strike and look closely: symbols will appear in the 4 circles on the right side of the book that have Roman Numerals. You might also notice that the Roman Numerals are not in the same position as the ones in the left book.

There are two additional circles on the right. They don't have Roman Numerals, but have stars near them.

At the bottom of the book you will see a sequence of numbers: 3, 1, 2, 4.

You can pick up the symbols from the left of the book and place them in the circles on the right side.

First, fill in the two circles marked by stars, using the ghostly symbols you saw in the left book. That means on the left the triangle with a bar across the top, and on the right the triangle with a dot on the top.

Then, place the symbols in the outer circles according to what you see when the lightning hits. That means on the top left goes the "upside down P", on the top right goes the "shovel pointing southwest", on the bottom left goes the "double diamond pointing down" and in the bottom right goes the "double diamond pointing southeast".

Now you're going to start alternating the levers. Starting with the top lever, click once, then click the bottom lever once. Keep alternating the top and bottom levers until the candles have moved to the outer top and bottom rows.

The circle on the right is flashing, so we need to solve that one first. Use the purple tab at the top of the backdrop and drag it left or right until raindrops appear in the circle with the water symbol.

Now pull the tab on the left bookcase (next to the backdrop) to the right, pull the tab on the right bookcase (next to the backdrop) up, and pull the newly appeared tab upwards to pull up the statue. Once the statue is up you will have to wiggle it to the right a bit to get it all the way up.

Back out of the painting and pull up the fall book (top left book). Place the mushrooms and the leaves in the book and you will get part of an acorn drawing. When you are finished the book will go into your inventory.

There are numerous small gates in the dividers. Click on a gate to lift it and click on a gate again to put it down. Some gates automatically shut (the ones by the color circles and the ones by the ears). The others don't, so watch and be careful.

It is vitally important to remember to close the gates once you've used them, otherwise you will get some strange color mistakes.

The ear holes can act as drains, removing unwanted colors from the face.

Start with the eyes and the eyebrows. You won't need to use these areas as major thoroughfares.

Now move the green from the neck into the areas outside both ears. Once you do this, you can no longer use the gates at the tops of the ears to drain. From now on, you can only use the gates between the ears and the cheeks to drain color.

Open a gate between one of the cheeks and the neck to make the neck purple. This will also make the cheek purple. Drain the cheek through the ear, then move more red into the cheek. The face should be all red and the neck purple.

Now add some yellow from the circle in the crown and move it through the face, turning the face orange, except for the lips. Avoid the eyes, eyebrows, neck, and outer areas. Do not add yellow from any other area or your risk the original area turning orange. And don't forget the tip of the nose.

Move the blue into the temple area, the upper cheeks, across the nose, to the left upper cheeks and the left temple area. Once the area is blue move the red dye backwards through the same sequence, turning the area purple. Avoid the eyes and the nose tip.

Cool, a graveyard. There's a lot to do here, so let's take it in stages.

First, pick up everything that can be picked up. There's a shovel on the ground, a hex stone on a headstone, another hex stone on the cobblestones, and a heavy stone on the tomb on the left. When you remove the heavy stone you will find another hex stone.

There's a sack sitting in the graveyard, use the knife to cut it open. This will get you another hex stone.

There's a fresh mound of dirt by a headstone. Use the shovel to dig up the grave (takes 3 clicks). Then use the crowbar to pry open the coffin. This will get you a piece of paper and a little green glowing worm.

Notice the tree in the distance? The one that is lit up from inside? Click on it and the light will fly over to the nearby tree, lighting it up from the inside.

Once the nearby tree lights up you will notice the hex stone in its mouth. Take it.

If you click underneath the branch of the tree that looks like an upraised arm, you wonder if it might be ticklish.

On a gravestone to the right are another bunch of 6 arrows, this time in purple. Might be good to memorize the combination.

"Notice the lantern with a blue light on the right?"
NO! - that is my problem, that there is NO lantern with blue light on the right - do I've got a wrong version or is there anything must be done to have the lantern there?

•Notice the lantern with a blue light on the right? Take it.
I can't find the lantern with the blue light on the right. Can anyone help me in order to move forward. I am in the right place but there is no lantern!

If you are in the correct place then there are 2 possibilities: (1) you accidentally clicked on the lamp and it is in your inventory, and (2) you have a technical glitch with the game. If the lamp isn't there on the wall or in your inventory, you might try contacting Big Fish customer support to see if this is a known bug.

I am in the pop up book in the Library. I have put the symbols into the floor and the floor opens up and a set of stairs appear. I can't go down the stairs, there is no arrow to go down. I know that this is what I am suppose to do next as I read it above, but am I missing something? Is there a glitch in the game? It is very frustrating to get so far in the game and can't go any further. Please HELP.

@Tracy,
The same problem here.
I already went down the stairs once but I got back and can't go down again.
I have to find two scrolls (right or left) and I think they are downstairs because I can't find them.
Anyone having a solution?

In a casual gaming world which is presently drowning in a glut of hidden-object games that all want to be the next Mystery Case Files but rarely even get close, the arrival of a new sequel to "pure" point-and-click/puzzle adventures like Azada, Dream Chronicles, and now Drawn, is something to be celebrated. Thanks, Big Fish. More please!

Has anyone figured out about the blue lamp? No lamp for me and I have tried three times, twice with the tutorial and once without and its never there? Could I possibly have missed a step in the previous chapter that would prevent me from moving further??

I've finished the main game, and I'm now playing the bonus section.
I've collected all the shards, but when I try to return to the tomb, I find that I can't go down the spiral staircase in the pop-up book in the library. I've obviously already used this staircased earlier in the game, so I don't get it.
BTW, I'm playing the Mac version.
Anyone?

You should get it to support the developers, since these games are really nice (and this is from someone who despises casual hidden object games). Perhaps those $6 will be the difference between having one more game in this series or not. :)

However the extra chapter alone is hardly worth it. There is basically one good puzzle and a whole lot of finding hidden objects. You basically need to:

backtrack through all the previous locations and find small pieces of glass and tiny stars (altogether a few dozens of them) and then place them back in a huge jigsaw-puzzle stained glass window.

However if you want to save the butler, then you simply must get the CE.. :)

Yeah, I don't think I'll get the CE. I would consider it if I was buying before it was released, and I think the Drawn series is good enough to survive without that extra $6. Still, if it dies out, you know who to blame!

Unfortunately the Big Fish "Games Manager" is too much of a nuisance to actually try their games.

Firstly, there shouldn't be any such manager. I should be able to just download the games via http with the tool of my choosing. I know the tools I use work, and I'm able to troubleshoot any problem the encounter because they give accurate and useful feedback. If the "games manager" has a problem, I have no recourse but reading random forum posts full of people describing symptoms with no resolution.

Secondly, The Games Manager doesn't work correctly. It downloaded all the bits (I could see the http connection working just fine, hitting the akamai network at my isp). When it finished downloading, it said "Saving File", but what it was really doing is downloading the content again. Was there a problem writing the file to disk? IS there an update to get? Who knows! After letting it redownload stuff for a few hours, I gave up.

I don't see how I can be a bigfish customer if they lock their games up in a manager that has bugs. I no longer trust it. To rectify this, they should offer simple direct downloads of their games.

@jrodman: I do understand your feelings, and I share your wish to avoid the game manager completely.

That said, there are options available to you to make your experience with the BFG game manager less intrusive, although never completely so. The always excellent Big Fish Customer Support is available to help. That's how I found out about the following info.

First, in the lower left corner of the game manager window is Options. Clicking that and on the Games & Downloads tab there is an option for Game Updates. You can check the radio button to download updates automatically or manually. Based on your complaint, I suggestion you use the Manual option.

Also, if the manager is having trouble downloading games, under the Options' Advanced tab, you can select "Alternate method" for your network connection. You will not be able to pause and restart downloads using that method, but it's there for people that have experienced trouble using the game manager's default settings.

If you're a Mac user, you can turn off the game manager almost completely (except for the initial downloading) and launch your games from the usual Applications folder in Mac OS X. Here's how to turn off game manager:

In the lower-left corner of the Game Manager, click the Options menu.

Select the About tab.

Check the box under Quick Exit.

Turning off the game manager will allow you to run your installed games directly from your Applications folder. However, each time you download any new trial game on the site or try to reinstall a game from your purchase history, the game manager will automatically come up.

And while there is currently no solution to do away with the game manager completely, there are so many really fun and exclusive games at Big Fish that it makes dealing with it just a minor inconvenience.

Is there actually a glitch in this game? Cuz I am stuck in "the town" part where I have to go to the shop window.. it asked me for the blue light.. so i went back down the stairs and went forward where there's the shadows hovering about.. I see no friggin blue light on the right side of the building.. it's gone.. nothing.. I looked in my inventory.. nothing. I have all the items needed up to this point and everything is being accorded. Where's the blue light? It's just disappeared.. glitch? Oh man.. I wanted to continue going forward with this game.. but I can't now :(

Beautiful!
The developers exceeded all expectations set by The Dark Tower.
And awesome walkthrough GrinnyP! From what I saw of it, I only had to peek once and that was after spending fifteen minutes trying to catch flying books... ;)

Hello again
Well, I've finished the game although the hints and advice still tells me to remove the sharks and sort out the scarecrow. So there's an error.

I'm doing the bonus and I've collected six hex stones. I've read through the walkthough, noted the placements of them and followed them through. There's non more cursor change to allow me to do anything but switch the light from tree to tree. I can't find seven hex stones. I got five plus the rubbing. I still have the crowbar in my inventory so I assume it can stil be used but where?

also on Jayisgames

>
Dora—
High-score centric "jump and run" arcade gameplay gets gorgeous in this simple but stunning iOS game about a boy trying to chase down his escaped herd of llamas on his snowboard. Changing time and weather as well as simple, addictive mechanics makes Alto's Adventure a scenic, oddly soothing treat.
...

>
Dora—
Anita works on a beautiful tropical island for the local cruise line, so when a passenger's luggage goes missing, she's got to track it down in this short and silly point-and-click game from Carmel Games!
...

>
Kimberly—
Who knows what absurd thing you'll find lurking under the surface of the earth in this strategic match-3 game. Draw a line connecting three or more of the same item to upgrade the item into something new. How deep can you go?
...

JayIsGames offers a free online experience with the best free online games. You can read our daily honest reviews and walkthroughs, play games, discuss about them. JayIsGames.com is a leading Flash and Online game review site. Since 2003, we review every day only the best, including casual games, flash games, arcade games, indie games, download games, shooting games, escape games, RPG games, puzzle games, mobile games and much more.
Submit a Game: Don't just read reviews or play games on JayIsGames.com, submit them! Submit your game now and we might release it in homepage. Use our game submission form.
Check us back often! We add new games every day and only the best games!